Netherlands, France plans to re-open primary schools as lockdown eases

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Netherlands, France plans to re-open primary schools as lockdown eases

Several European countries are to relax coronavirus restrictions related to children, with Holland and France announcing that primary schools will reopen next month and Spain setting out how under-14s will be allowed out of the home from next week.

French children would return to school in staggered year groups, the education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer said, with no more than 15 pupils allowed in each class.

Primary pupils aged from five to 11 would be the first to go back on 12 May, one day after the end of a strict nationwide lockdown. The following week older children in selected years at secondary schools and lycée would return. All classes would be back by 25 May.

Blanquer said the aim was to have primary school children back in “small groups”, probably of “less than 10 pupils”. The plan is likely to prove challenging for headteachers in public schools, where classes of 30-plus pupils are common.

Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, announced that primary schools would reopen in the Netherlands in the first week of May. The country’s infectious disease control institute found that the risk of infection from opening schools was “manageable”.

Leaked scientific advice, obtained by the Guardian, says the effective reproduction rate of the epidemic has been less than one in the Netherlands since 15 March. This means that one person with the disease infects fewer than one other person in the community.

Of all reported Covid-19 patients, the scientists advise, “barely 1% are under 20 years of age, while this age group accounts for approximately 22% of the entire population”.

The scientists conclude: “By opening childcare, primary schools and special education, more transmission is expected among children and their parents. However, it is expected that this will not result in much additional care and hospital admissions.”

It is unclear if the Netherlands will reopen primary schools completely or if they will restart with half-full classes, as in France. Advisers will take into account data from Scandinavian countries, including Denmark, which last week reopened primary schools, and Norway, which did so on Monday.

Secondary schools in the Netherlands could resume a month later if no outbreaks occurred in the intervening period in primary schools, they said. They also suggested that children up to the age of 12 could exercise without social distancing, but that the rules should be enforced for older pupils.

Dutch-style phased reopening offers a model for other European countries which have so far not significantly eased lockdown measures or allowed pupils back to school. They include Italy, Spain and the UK, all of which have had high rates of infection and transmission.

On Tuesday, the Spanish government announced that children under 14 would be allowed out of their homes from 27 April if accompanied by a parent. They are not permitted to exercise or play in parks, which remain shut, but they can visit the supermarket, chemist or bank.

The trend across Europe is of a cautious return to pre-virus life. Austria said on Tuesday it would allow restaurants and cafes to reopen and religious services to resume from 15 May. Small shops are already open, with Germany following suit on Monday, as bookshops, florists and fashion stores welcomed customers again.